The reason Bob McDonnell beat out Creigh Deeds in Virginia was not because McDonnell represents some new style small government Republican. McDonnell won because Deeds made campaign mistakes. McDonnell made none. Deeds lost the race more than McDonnell won it.

The same is true for the New Jersey race. Corzine, a former chairman at Goldman Sachs, easily became a scapegoat for a failing economy and political corruption. So, he lost.

What Tuesday’s election results really demonstrated was a lack of conviction for either Democrats or Republicans. When the political spectrum shines red, then blue, then red, then blue, over and over again something tangible comes to light:

America is not rooting for either party to win. America is rooting for the underdog.

After 8 years of Clinton, George W. Bush was the underdog. In 2004, Bush was still the underdog largely due to his perceived strength (however false it was) in fighting “those who attacked us on 9/11″. That quickly soured so much that by 2006 the Democratic Party was the underdog so they won control of Congress. If Bush was up for re-election himself in 2006, he’d have lost.

The 2008 election cemented the underdog theory with America getting the chance to elect the first African American President. McCain, largely a Bush twin, had no chance.

Tuesday’s election results demonstrated that the Republicans are now, once again, the underdogs. This bodes well for them in the 2010 election and it could carry over to the 2012 Presidential contest. Of course, that depends on who has the perceived power at that time.

The point of this “underdog theory” is that we are not happy with the blue nor the red team. When the time comes we just want to take away power from whichever team has it.

For liberty champions this eternal game is growing extremely tiresome.

When everyone buys into the two team league yet no one wants either team to finish in first place, isn’t it time to expand the league?

It just so happens that there is a liberty-loving team already in place ready to be added to the league. Here are their names:

• Rand Paul
• David Hedrick
• Adam Kokesh
• Peter Schiff
• Ray McBerry
• Chris Simcox
• Debbie Medina
• Bill Hunt
• RJ Harris
• John Dennis
• David Ratowitz
• Jake Towne
• Randy Brogdon
• Robert Broadus
• Collins Bailey
• Jaynee Germond
• Bob Parker
• Bill Connor
• Peg Luksik

These are the candidates being celebrated today on the anniversary of Ron Paul’s 5th of November money bomb. To learn more about these candidates please check out ThisNovember5th.com. If you find a candidate you like, then please don’t hesitate to support that candidate with a generous donation.

These are the real underdogs and outcasts. Let’s help make them winners and keep them winning.

This is wonderful news and hopefully will fuel the fire so that Rand can end up with an easy victory in May. Keep on fighting!

The details are here.

You’re the First to Know

Dear Friend,

Well, it looks like you have made a difference.

Based upon the unbelievable support that I have receieved from 10,000 supporters like you, I have decided to throw my hat into the ring to challenge Chris Dodd for the honor of representing the state of Connecticut in the United States Senate. I will announce my candidacy on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show on Thursday, September 17 at 8:15am eastern time. Sorry for the short notice, but its important to honor commitments and keep these things under raps until the day the news breaks.

At this time last year I could not have imagined that that I would be making such an announcement today. I had never intended to become a candidate for public office. But these are extraordinary times. Our economy is falling apart in front of our eyes and Washington seems intent on making the wheels come off even faster. At a time when we desperately need adult supervison, the economically illiterate are running the show. As I love my country, it now seems clear that I must try to do something to help. The emotional and material support I have received from across the country has made the decision much easier.

So today it begins. As I’m sure you are aware, the rules in politics bear only scant resemblance to those which govern polite society. As a result, I am wading into strange waters, and I’m sure strange things will happen. But I promise to maintain my composure and give it my best shot. Based on the support that I have received thus far, I fully expect to be facing down Chris Dodd in the general election just 14 months from now.

As my campaign takes flight, I appreciate the patience and trust that you have shown. To commit time and money to a long shot candidate for high office is a hard choice. I hope to repay that trust with a first class campaign.

I look forward to your feedback and your continued support.

Thanks again,

Peter Schiff

With Ron Paul many of the attacks were leveled by the media itself. We even published a rather popular satire piece during the campaign called “The Official Media Guide To Attacking Ron Paul“.

Thus far with Rand Paul, most of the attacks are coming from the Left and the neo-conservative establishment friends of his Republican primary opponent Trey Grayson. The attacks themselves are quite typical.

The Left enjoys pointing out that white supremacist organizations have noticed Rand Paul’s campaign and support him. They like to point out that such extreme groups and individuals supporting Paul means that Paul himself somehow condones such beliefs. This is ludicrous. Guilt by association attacks are for the feeble-minded. No one, not even the Left’s Messiah Obama can control who chooses to support him.

Extremists like Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan both support Obama, but I don’t attack Obama because of it. Even though a much stronger case could be made for doing so due to the fact that Wright was Obama’s pastor and mentor for 20 years or so.

Believing in individual liberty and white supremacy are impossible bedfellows. Attacking Rand Paul this way tells us more about the attacker than the attacked.

The attacks from his own party are right out of the political attack playbook. What makes it humorous this time is that the charges against Rand Paul suggesting he isn’t a “real Republican” could be more easily made against his opponent. Trey Grayson used to be a Democrat and campaigned for Bill Clinton in the 90’s. At that time Rand Paul was busy founding an anti-tax group in Kentucky.

Grayson is to the left of George W. Bush and John McCain, two names that don’t exactly warm conservative Republicans hearts. Rand Paul is more like a Goldwater/Reagan Republican. He actually talks about term limits, cutting spending, and having a balanced budget. He doesn’t just deliver sound bites about lower taxes. Here is his excellent speech at a recent fund raiser in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

I’ll let you be the judge on which candidate is the “real” Republican.

As Rand Paul raises more and more money he will be attacked more and more. In today’s political climate being an establishment politician is more of a negative than in days past. To further illustrate the status quo vs. the anti-establishment fight another money bomb for Rand Paul has been scheduled. The money bomb will be held on the same day that Trey Grayson is having a $500 per plate fund raiser provided by his establishment GOP friends in DC.

On September 23rd, it is the KentuckyFight.com money bomb, also known as the “We The People” vs. the “DC Insiders” money bomb. The goal is to raise $500k for the day for Rand Paul’s campaign. The last money bomb yielded over $433k so the goal is achievable, but I would be surprised if the $500k is reached. I can’t blame anyone for aiming high though. Pledge today and help spread the word.

The more money the campaign raises the more vicious the attacks will become. Fighting the power makes the powerful uneasy and desperate. Rand Paul is fighting and has the best chance of any liberty candidate to actually win a U.S. Senate seat. In the name of freedom, let us help him be victorious.

by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
Originally published August 16, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/the-concept-of-our-open-office-1

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, 1801-1809

“When citizens speak, their Representative must listen completely. Across our land, the so-called “Representatives” have not troubled to listen to We the People, and this is a key reason our country is in such dire straits today.” – Jake Towne, 2010 Candidate for Pennsylvania’s 15th District

Are you one of the few Americans who has picked up the phone to call your representative or senator? Ever wonder exactly how much good it really DID? Were you the only person who called, or were there hundreds more? Sure, the staffer might have tallied your call, but was your call seriously considered by your politician? The truth is stark. First, most of the time you truly have no real idea. Second, your Democratic and Republican politicians like it this way.

When the Tea Party movement started up on April 15, one of my observations is that people came out for many reasons those who wanted limited government, those aghast at the taxation and size of government, those fed up with our costly wars abroad, those who were just upset at the blatant favoritism shown to the big corporations and Wall Street but they had one key complaint in common.

They all wanted accountability out of their out-of-control politicians, and to be heard. The people in the streets (and many still sitting at home) are reaching record levels of dissatisfaction with the inane, verbal platitudes of today’s crop of current Democratic and Republican incumbents. We the People can still remember how quickly the country went on the road to serfdom under a Republican President and Congress from 2000-2006, how it was somewhat slowed by a Republican President and Democrat Congress – who still managed to pass the Banker Bailout of October 2008 – and how we are now once again back on the express train to socialism under a Democrat President and Congress. Today’s Republicans just represent the local train.

As an independent candidate competing with twin political machines which, at their rotten cores, are truly no more different than Coke and Pepsi – I have to pay close attention to what my constituents want. Just as in a free market economy where the customer is king, my constituents are both my customers and my sovereign employers. They control the votes that will elect me, and I must have their support if I am to represent our district in DC. So, I needed to find a way of delivering accountability and giving a voice to each citizen the top demands by my estimation. “Accountability” and “transparency” are often just empty buzzwords, so I needed to find a way to solidify them.

What I’ve come up with is the following, what I’ve nicknamed “Our Open Office.” As far as I know, it is a unique, revolutionary idea that is not in practice by any representative or senator on the federal or state levels anywhere in the world. It is based on the town halls and Roman forums of old, but with today’s online communication technology. Better yet, it is also simple and easy to implement I’ve even got a simple, preliminary forum already active at TowneForCongress.com with the help of Raging Debate, a firm dedicated to facilitating citizen’s powered media. The key benefits of my proposal are:

• Empower the Citizen
  • Each resident has a real public voice to comment, vote, debate, and criticize
  • Each constituent will have a way to publicly demand I address their ideas and concerns by submitting bills online
  • Citizens can summon me to a town hall discussion by reaching a threshold level on topics they feel I am not addressing timely enough or to their satisfaction
  • By incorporating the feedback of specialists in different fields and interests, particularly with the bill submission ability, our office will be far more efficient with better ideas than other districts because our work force will be larger and more specialized. Those “working” outside of my office will be working voluntarily on issues that have the most importance to them, empowering the individual citizen.
• Accountability and Transparency
  • All residents can receive a monthly report from my office detailing each house floor vote taken, each bill introduced, and each bill co-sponsored. Feedback from the forum will be summarized. Most importantly, I, the representative, will be forced to outline WHY I voted each way.
  • My office’s budget report will be publicized and readily available on the website so citizens can see how their tax dollars are spent.
  • Empowering citizens to public discourse and enabling open, visible criticism of my actions makes me more accountable to the people

Without further ado, here’s the idea in slide format. The PDF file and photo licenses can be downloaded from here.

My closing comments are that my idea is quite obviously the thoughts of an individual who is completely fed up with his tyrannical government, and is motivated to change it for the better. Yes, politically-speaking, the above idea creates a fertile area for competitors – which I wouldn’t mind in the least, but you can bet most incumbents would! However, far more importantly, it delivers to the voter what I believe they want: accountability, transparency, and empowerment. The only possible drawback is that with roughly 700,000 residents, my staff and I may not be able to service customers’ needs fast enough. However, reflect for a moment; this is a blessed problem to have, and completely the opposite of today where the Gang in DC has totally failed us, leading us on a path to economic and moral ruin.

Here I must point out that the incumbent, Congressman Dent, could start implementing this right now, and save me the trouble of doing it myself after I win the November 2010 election. In fact, perhaps I will write him yet another letter, although he is already on notice since I keep showing up at town halls to hand-deliver my (unanswered) open letters and just had a feature editorial published today in the local Sunday newspaper on health care. Whichever Democrat (call him/her “Pepsi”) challenger wins the primary is free to include my “Our Open Office” idea in their platform as well. In fact, I dare them to do so and by acquiescing to my demands, they will do myself and all of us a favor.  No, not a favor.  THEY WILL BE DOING THEIR JOBS.

I am highly irritated by the two-headed, one-party duopoly in DC which has lost all touch with reality since October 2008 when Congressman Dent voted to pass the Banker Bailout. It is high time for the residents of the 15th district to throw out Mr. and Mrs. Coke-Pepsi, and replace them with a healthier choice, someone who has principles and is intent on working tirelessly to bring REAL change, REAL hope for our futures, and is determined to avoid the corruption of the Republicrats.

Truth be told, I could just as happily be pursuing my professional career as an expatriate engineer in Asia, which I resigned so I could return to my home to run for office. Or I could be happily traveling about the world, which is one of my passions.

Instead, I willingly chose to spend a year and a half of my life campaigning without a steady paycheck, figuring out how to create a website, fill out all the required forms with the IRS, FEC, and various other government agencies and procure the 3,600 or so required signatures in 2010 so that I am a legal candidate for the 2010 election. Everything the campaign achieves will be accomplished by grassroots volunteers who hear the message and the voters who agree. Everything accomplished will be without the help of multi-million dollar political machines Mr. and Mrs. Coke-Pepsi will have at their disposal.

I have chosen this path to follow since I am not wholly convinced I will be better off if I leave the current politicians alone by not running. History teaches that socialist states have a harsh hand. Furthermore, I really care about protecting my family and the citizens in our district, especially from the inevitable monetary fallout from the demise of the dollar and the violations of civil liberties. By running, and running to win, I am bringing a real choice to the people of the Lehigh Valley district.

I will, quite merrily, bring “Our Open Office” to the Fighting Fifteenth district of Pennsylvania if you will only entrust me with your vote, your volunteering, and your financial support to spread my message. The abominable pick between “the lesser of two evils” or “politics as usual” stops when you place your liberty and your family’s liberty first and vote Jake Towne for U.S. Congress in 2010.

Keep an eye out for the first of many face-to-face town halls for the campaign to start up soon. We will be organizing protests, joining with the peaceful protests of like-minded groups, seeking how best to help our local community, and writing a bunch more open letters to the incumbent.

As John Paul Jones, the famous American sailor, once boldly told the mighty British Navy, “I have not yet begun to fight!”

Thank you for your time.

For the Republic,

Jake Towne

August 16, 2009

_______________________________________________________________________

Jake Towne is running for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15th District in the 2010 election as a citizen unaffiliated with any political parties.  Jake also writes at www.LibertyMaven.com and www.CampaignForLiberty.com.  A master campaign presentation for internet viewing is available.  A novel campaign website built by Raging Debate, TowneForCongress.com has recently opened. [Reach the Author Here!]

_______________________________________________________________________

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.

Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.

Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito. Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.

Summary of Articles and Bibliography for Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution (8/7/2009)

Sonia Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. She was confirmed and it wasn’t even close, as expected. Souter is out and Sotomayor is in. It seems like a wash to me. The next Supreme Court appointee will be the more interesting one.

The Cash For Clunkers program gets added funds. The Senate approved 2 billion more dollars we don’t have to destroy cars that get poor gas mileage and subsidize the purchase of cars that get better gas mileage. For those that don’t “feel” like understanding economics, John Stossel demonstrates why this program is yet another wasteful boondoggle. Did you know that you can buy a brand new Hummer with your neighbor’s money?

An amendment to the additional money for the Cash for Clunkers program by Senator Coburn would have permitted dealers to donate the traded clunkers to charities and the poor. I say would have because the amendment was defeated by the Democrats. I was under the impression the Democrats cared about the poor? It appears they care about appeasing the environmental lobbyists more.

In response to the massive opposition to Obama’s health care plan the White House has taken another page out of Woodrow Wilson’s playbook. In a modernized version of Wilson’s American Protective League the White House would like you to report “fishy” media content that disagrees with Obama’s health care plan. Feel free to report this article. The email address is flag@whitehouse.gov.

Here is the White House Health Care propaganda page. Am I being unfair labeling it as propaganda? Well here is Obama in 2003 arguing with himself.

Hmmm, that second video link seems “fishy”. Perhaps it should be reported. Obama’s America is becoming more scary by the day.

In happier news liberty candidates are readying themselves to lead the GOP to the promised land. Rand Paul officially announced his candidacy this week and has a money bomb planned for August 20th. Peter Schiff is gearing up and having what should be a big money bomb tomorrow: The Schiffathon.

There are some less well-known liberty candidates running in races across the country. A wonderful and hopeful new video presents them to the world:

All of these candidates deserve our support. It would be extremely nice to see a liberty candidate round table on Glenn Beck’s TV show with all of these candidates discussing the issues. Hint Hint Mr. Beck on Twitter: @glennbeck.

Here are the liberty candidates’ web sites again for doing your own research:

• Rand Paul – http://randpaul2010.com/
• Jake Towne – http://towneforcongress.com/
• R.J. Harris – http://rjharris2010.com/
• Adam Kokesh – http://kokeshforcongress.com/
• Jaynee Germond – http://germond2010.com/
• Mike Vasovski – http://www.vasovskiforcongress.com/
• Paul Lambert – http://votelambert.org/
• Peter Schiff – http://schiffforsenate.com/

And here are this week’s random thoughts, tweets, and quotes:

• U.S. health care is like a free market in the same way that Madonna is “like a virgin”. http://cli.gs/uSSS1

• They mixed up the names. Obamacare should be renamed Cash For Clunkers.

• ObamaCare doesn’t solve health care. It solves Social Security insolvency: a death penalty for the old.

• Calling your lawmaker today may keep the government doctor away!

• I live in the real world, not some conspiracy. Not a birther, nor a truther, just a guy looking to be free.

• I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery. – Unknown

• I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. – James Madison

• Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

• We are free, truly free, when we don’t need to rent our arms to anybody in order to be able to lift a piece of bread to our mouths. – Ricardo Flores Magon

And the quote of the week:

Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves. – D.H. Lawrence

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to donate to Peter Schiff today and make the Schiffathon a success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INtoIkn0k28

He is also scheduled to be on with Glenn Beck this morning on Beck’s radio show.

I’ve said this before, but the more I see and hear Rand Paul the more I like him and think he’d be a wonderful addition to the U.S. Senate. Don’t forget to pledge and donate during the RunRandRun money bomb on August 20th.

Here is his announcement on Fox News Channel with Neil Cavuto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGWy-dPATRM

Here is his appearance on Happy Hour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9rtlL4nq3c

And if you’d like a more in-depth interview see this interview with Rand’s local ABC affiliate:

http://www.wbko.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4018317&flvUri=

From RJHarris2010.com:

I have served our country on three deployments: one for a peacekeeping mission in Korea and two for the Iraq war. Both of the war deployments were with the Army National Guard. Additionally, I have used my military Air Traffic Control Training to work for the Federal Aviation Administration. Desiring at one point to try my hand in business, I founded a small chain of games/toy stores, which unfortunately did not survive the economic downturn of 2001. In 2006, I decided to return to college to make a civilian career change from aviation to law; although, I do continue my aviation career in the Oklahoma Army National Guard as an Air Traffic Control Platoon Leader for two Platoons in the 1-245th Aviation Regiment. I completed the undergraduate portion of my education in Philosophy this past May at the University of Oklahoma. Currently, I am a First Year Law Student at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

The primary mission of this campaign is to elect a Constitutional Conservative to represent the people of the 4th Oklahoma Congressional District.

Harris also had an excellent appearance on Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano earlier this year. If you believe in the Constitution then please send a few dollars to RJ Harris 2010 today.

We rated Lawson on the Paul-O-Meter (in which we compared his policies and voting record to those of Ron Paul) and weren’t too surprised that he scored a 91 out of a possible 99 points (thus cementing his “Ron Paul Jr.” nickname).

Ron Paul himself has even campaigned for him and remarked on Lawson’s nickname by saying:

A lot of folks have begun calling B.J. Lawson the next Ron Paul. The comparison is very flattering. . . for me.

In the election BJ garnered 37% of the vote, which is quite a feat considering his district (4th) in North Carolina is strongly Democratic.

And according to the local press, BJ Lawson is planning to give it another shot.  He’ll be opposing Rep. David Price next fall.  Expect an announcement on his web site (www.lawsonforcongress.com) some time next week.

In the meantime, for more information, take a look at our interviews with BJ last year: Part 1 |Part 2 and then get ready for another money bomb.

The concept of a money bomb, pooling a bunch of campaign donations in a single day, was made famous during Ron Paul’s Presidential campaign of 2007 and 2008. Many others have utilized the practice to draw in campaign funds and press mentions since then. Now, it is Ron Paul’s son, Rand Paul, who is ready for his own.

This one is to raise money for his exploratory committee for the U.S. Senate representing Kentucky. The day is next Monday, June 1st, 2009. The goal is $25k in a single day. More details are here.

We need more Ron Pauls in DC. Without cloning Ron Paul  it is unlikely you’ll find someone more similar than his son, Dr. Rand Paul.

Please help Rand Paul out by donating on June 1st!